The President Defence and Police Officers’ Wives Association (DEPOWA), Dr (Mrs) Omobolanle Olonisakin has urged teachers and instructors of the DEPOWA Schools and Skills Acquisition centre to embrace the new normal in educational institutions.
The DEPOWA President made the disclosure recently at a three-day capacity building workshop organized for teachers and instructors of the DEPOWA Schools and Skills Acquisition centre, in Abuja.
Olonisakin averred that the educational system will not remain the same until the cure for COVID:19 pandemic is found.
She said, “we are all aware education cannot remain the same, until cure for coronavirus is available. So with this workshop on Post COVID-19 blended teaching techniques, our teachers have been updated on how to complement face to face learning with online learning option.”
Mrs Olonisakin said the training and retraining of teachers is a panacea in the teaching profession towards optimizing the academic performance of students in external and internal examinations, as well as meeting the dynamics of the ever changing world.
Speaking on the theme of the workshop, “Post COVID-19: Customized Blended Teaching Techniques,” the wife of the Defence Chief explained that due to the pandemic, schools around the world are adopting blended learning as a new normal which is part of curriculum restructuring and redesigning efforts.
She explained that blended learning strives to provide students face to face and online experiences. She described blended classroom structures as instructive techniques which include: direct instruction, lecture group discussions and small group work, as well as application of technology to aid in-class online learning to enable students study while at home.
Dr Olonisakin appreciated the IB8 Ventures resource persons for updating DEPOWA teachers with the requisite skills on how to complement physical and online learning, while urging the teachers to inculcate the knowledge gained on their students to enable them be creative and innovative in solving issues.
She commended the teachers’ resilience in imparting knowledge to the students as reflected in their performance in previous common entrance examinations.
In his remarks, the lead Consultant of IB8 Ventures, Mr Kunle Olatunji, COVID-19 pandemic has enforced individuals and organizations in adapting to the global change, adding that is the reason IB8 ventures is working closely with DEPOWA in order to ensure its teachers are well trained with this new reality.
Mr Olatunji who commended the DEPOWA leadership for the partnership, pointed out that DEPOWA school teachers were now better informed and equipped on the implication of blended teaching technique.
The Commandant of DEPOWA Schools, Lieutenant Commander Caroline Njoku, expressed her appreciation to the DEPOWA President for her commitment and support towards ensuring that the school retained its feats as a centre for academic excellence.
The Commandant expressed optimism that the DEPOWA schools was keying into the post COVID-19 dispensation learning process, noting that the knowledge acquired by the participants during the workshop would further enhance their technological skill.
Lectures delivered during the workshop include: An overview of blended teaching techniques and the new normal, blended learning strategies, transitioning to blended learning – the duties and roles of the creative teachers, the teacher and blended teaching/learning techniques-teachers roles and duties, among others.
It would be recalled that DEPOWA in 2019 held a three-day teachers’ workshop with the theme, “Higher Orders Thinking and Teaching Skills – A Recipe for National Development.”
